Reviewing Tapioca Xpress: Bubble teas, smoothies, small snacks, and everything in between in Katy, TX.

Katy is home to a plethora of shopping centers. They’re everywhere. And usually, if you take a closer look, you’ll find a boba tea cafe hidden within the various shops.

And most of them are superb. This little cafe was no exception.

Super stylish and modern, Tapioca Xpress had an aesthetic that I loved. It looks small at first glance but goes pretty deep with a lot of nice seating. With neon floral lights and a white, black, brown, and green color palette, it has a vibe of a relaxing, tropical cafe.

Tapioca Xpress has many specialties, such as coffees, teas, smoothies, and even small snacks. They are proud of their “fresh to order” foods, such as Korean street tacos, Taiwanese popcorn chicken, and bulgogi kimchi fries. Some of the foods offered aren’t typical for boba cafes, which I thought was neat. I love seeing shops step outside of the box. It’s clear from some of their flavor offerings for drinks, sinkers, and food items that they specialize in doing just that!

Also, their “sinker” selection includes boba, matcha boba, lychee jelly, and chili popping boba for free, which is unique to this store. Most other tea shops charge $0.50 to $1 for additions like these to drinks.

As this was my first time there, I wanted to try one of Tapioca Xpress’s specialty drinks; I chose the rose fruit tea because it was way too hot outside for something cream-based, and I’m a huge fan of anything rose-flavored.

If you’ve read any of my other reviews before, you already know that, if possible, I always get low-sugar drinks. But this time, after I had ordered it and they had started working on my drink, the manager approached me while holding the mixer bottle containing my drink and a tiny little plastic sauce cup.

She told me that she felt like the rose fruit tea would have a better, more prominent flavor profile if it had more than just 50 percent sugar, so she wanted me to test it with 50 percent sugar to see if I wanted her to remake it. Then, she poured a little out for me to try, and although I thought it was fine as is and didn’t want her to have to remake the drink, she talked me into adding a little more.

And actually, she was right! The rose flavor was better and more robust in the 70 percent sugar drink she made for me. It is simply fantastic. I was worried it would be too sweet, but it was still as tangy as I wanted it to be.

But more than that, I really appreciated that she made an effort to make a delicious, high-quality drink that she wanted me to like. It wasn’t just about serving a customer; it was about giving the customer a great experience. I liked the pride she took in her drinks, and she was very kind to me.

I played it safe this trip, but I’ll be back soon to try Tapioca Xpress’s more adventurous flavors, like their avocado lemon smoothie.